Photo: Screenshot of the Science and Technology Daily

　　A Chinese research team has developed the world"s first self-powered eye-tracking system that generates electricity from blinking, enabling eye-controlled wheelchairs for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday.

　　The system was developed by a team led by Long Yunze, a professor at Qingdao University, in collaboration with research partners. The findings were published in Cell Reports Physical Science, a journal under Cell Press, and featured as a headline story by Cell Press.

　　The system overcomes the long-standing power supply bottleneck of conventional eye-tracking devices. Existing mature products rely on external power sources, which has been a major barrier to practical use. For patients attempting to control wheelchairs with traditional eye-tracking systems, heavy head-mounted equipment, tangled power cables and frequent low-battery alerts often erect a "high wall" between them and independent mobility, according to the report.

　　To address this challenge, Long"s team proposed a new approach: letting the eyes generate their own power. The self-powered eye-tracking system adopts a dual-layer design combining a contact lens and a pair of eyeglass frames. It is ultra-lightweight, feels no different from wearing ordinary glasses, and draws all the energy it needs from eye movements, eliminating batteries and achieving true energy self-sufficiency.

　　Long said that the system effectively builds a "mini power plant" within the eye. A layer of polydimethylsiloxane, attached to the eyeball like a contact lens, functions as a micro triboelectric generator, continuously producing electric charges through friction whenever the user blinks or moves their eyes, according to the report.